Garment under arm construction



Aug. 30, 1955 F. TRAGESER GARMENT UNDER ARM CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11, 1952 F'IGZS,

NVENTOR a e ,s e r- ATTORNEY char/e5 F 7 7 BY 1955 c. F. TRAGESER GARMENT UNDER ARM CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 11, 1952 It rill cflIlI/ I I Char/es l-T Tra esev' ATTORNEY United States Patent GARMENT UNDER ARM CONSTRUCTION Charles F. Trageser, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Stadium Manufacturing Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application July 11, 1952, Serial No. 298,224

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-93) This invention relates to an improvement in the underarm portion of a garment such as a shirt, pajama top, coat or blouse or the like.

The invention is primarily an improvement upon the garment shown in Patent No. 2,179,675 of November 14, 1939. In the garment as shown in this patent it was believed that the pleat or gusset needed one fold having no seam, so that the cloth was in one piece for the strength that such integral construction would give to the pleat. It has been found, however, that this one piece construe-- tion is not only not essential, but it is also not desirable because the seam, at the place where the seam joining the two forks on that pleat ended, practically always formed a knot or bulge which was not only unsightly but uncomfortable as it contacted the body. It has furthermore been found that in spite of the fact that one edge of the pleat had a seam to maintain the two leaves of the pleat parallel, the portion of the pleat containing no seam tended to turn the whole pleat inside out so that it projected outside the garment in a rather unsightly manner. Also it has been found that making the pleat in one piece with rather widely spreading forks required considerable material.

The objects of the present invention are to overcome the above disadvantages in the garment of the above cited patent by making a pleat or gusset which will remain in the garment, on the inside rather than turning inside out when its use is not required. Another object is to make the pleat or gusset out of two separate pieces of material so that they may be made of scraps of material. Another object of the invention is to so construct the pleat that there are no knobs or bulges in the seams to form knots against the body. A further object of the invention is to so curve the seam of the back or attached edges of the pleat or gusset as to allow a rounding even opening of the pleat or gusset when in use so that it will always give a tidy appearance to the pleat when the arm of the wearer is raised. The primary object of the pleat of this invention as well as that of the patent cited is to give greater freedom of movement to the arm of the wearer without binding or pulling the garment around. A still further object of this invention is to form a strengthening of the underarm portion of the garment especially at the juncture of the sleeve and body of the garment. The edges of the pleat or gusset in their line of attachment to the body and sleeve of the garment are preferably straight as the parallel sections of the pleat lie within the garment and the arm is raised. Also they are preferably in line or parallel with the direction of the threads in the pleat and this gives additional strength to the garment at the seam where the sleeve is sewed in.

Other objects and advantages of the improvement of this invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the pleat or gusset of this invention prior to placing it in the garment.

Patented Aug. 30, 1955 Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the garment with the pleat or gusset in place.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view with the arm of the garment raised.

Figure 4 is a similar view with the pleat partially spread apart.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 from the inside of the garment.

Figure 6 is a view of the garment with the arm raised and turned partially forwardly showing the folding of the pleat or gusset as it would be in use.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view on line 7-7 of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of a modification of the pleat shown in Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a side elevational view of the garment with the sleeve raised and with the pleat or gusset in place.

Figure 10 is a front view of the pleat of Figure 8 in place in the garment with the pleat spread.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10 from the inside of the garment.

Figure 12 is a sectional view on ure 10.

Figure 13 is a combination view in section on line 13-13 of Figure 9 and in dotted lines showing the garment with the body portion open fiat.

Figure 14 is a sectional view on line 1414 of Figure 8.

In the drawings similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views. The garment in which the pleat of the instant invention is placed is intended to have an underarm portion which, when the arm is raised straight, has the appearance of any other similar garment without any pleat. The garment would have the appearance of Figure 3 in this instance, the pleat being intended to add greater freedom of movement and less binding of the garment when the arm is moved either forward or backward as shown in Figure 6.

The body 1 of the garment has sewed thereto the sleeve 2 by means of the seam 3. Extending substantially an equal distance in both the sleeve and the garment is an opening 4 in which a pleat or gusset consisting of two layers or sections 5 and 6 is placed. These sections are sewed together on their rear edges as at 7 when the two sections are placed parallel, the stitching is taken through both sections throughout the length of the pleat to give the pleat sections a tendency to remain parallel. The front edges 8 of the pleat when the pleat sections are parallel is preferably straight and preferably in the line of or parallel with the thread or weave of the pleat as clearly shown in Figure 1. The top or sleeve portion of the pleat is curved inwardly toward the garment as shown at 9.

The front of the pleat is stitched to the sides of the opening in both the sleeve and body portions of the garment and at the bottom the additional fullness in the pleat is spread and folded down as clearly shown in Figures 2, 4, 5 and 7. This construction gives an additional fold or fullness in the pleat as shown at 10. Additional cross stitching 11 and 12 is placed across the bottom and top of the opening and pleat to give greater strength at the ends of the opening.

The pleat or gusset shown in Figures 8 to 14 inclusive is like that of the pleat or gusset of preceding views with the exception that the lower portion of the pleat or gusset is also curved as shown at 13. In these views the numbers referring to the similar pleat parts are primed in the drawing. This curving, convexly, allows substantially the same freedom of movement, forward and backward of the arm of the wearer and at the same time avoids the additional bunching at the lower end of the pleat shown in Figures 2, 4, 5 and 7 of the preceding modification.

line 12 12 of Fig- In Figures-l3 and 9 the pleat is shown with the two sections or layers paralleland also with the front and back portions of the body of the garment parallel. In dotted lines in Figure 13 the body of the garment is shown opened straight but with the pleat sections remaining parallel, the combination view being used to show the alternative foldingsof the body of the garment. v

The nature of the stitching on the back of the pleat or gusset can take several forms such as the overlock stitch shown in Figures 8 to 14 inclusive or the hemming machine stitch and construction such as shown in the other views. Any other suitable stitching that would tend to maintain the sections of the pleat or gusset parallel would be suitablei Although it is intended that the pleat be made of two separate sections stitched together, it is apparent that a single piece of material could be used so long as it is stitched throughout the length of the back to maintain the two sections parallel at that edge, thus preventing the eversion of the pleat or gusset in use.

I It will be apparent from the above description that the pleat or gusset when in use will open in a round even -manner and that it will form under the arm a rounding smooth extension of the cloth of the garment which would not be noticeable by the wearer except when the additional forward or backward movement of the arm is desired, when the additional play allowed by the fullness 4 of the pleat or gusset would come into use and avoid any drawing or pulling of the garment.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

The combination with a sleeping garment having a body and a sleeve therefor and having, under the arm, adjacent the junction of and in both the sleeve and body a vertically extending strain relieving opening, of a gussetforming an extensible, vertical closure for the opening wider near its vertical center than at its ends, the gusset comprising two parallel sections when the sleeve is raised in line with the body with the rear edges of both sections being stitched through throughout their lengths, to normally retain the gusset within the garment and with the rear edge portion of the gusset, between its two ends, being of arcuate formation, to provide a rounding smooth expansion of the gusset upon sidewise movement of the sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,669 Upthegrove Mar. 4, 1890 1,177,952 Inman Apr. 4, 1916 2,179,675 Trageser Nov. 14, 1939 2,514,276 Berman July 4, 1950 

